Wednesday, April 11, 2012

T's Eggless Tiramisu -- the one so good that I dare not bake

While in my last post I lamented on friendships lost, today I will sing paeans of the ones that sustained, with no effort of mine. And this past Spring weekend we got a chance to spend time with two of them -- T and R-da. We have known T for a long long time, so long that she is practically family. My daughters love her and her husband much, call her T pishi and draw her and R-pisho in family portraits. T is an awesome baker while her husband R-da is the bong food connoisseur and official Italian in my bong circle. I mean he is not an Italian but he has lived in Italy and makes the best pasta to my knowledge.

Though we have had many meals at her home, this weekend we made a special request to eat only pasta, cooked by R-Da -- and yes a big "and" ---only vegetarian pasta-- no meat. When we reached their home on Friday evening their home was alive with Italian music which I had no clue existed and fragrant with a very Italian aroma which made my belly squeak and ask for "food".

Before I could start eating though, the girls were waylaid by a lovely surprise, a cute easter bunny cake with pretty pink dust ears, baked by T. Naturally they, the girls, started off with a dessert.

Next we started with an antipasti of caprese --fresh mozzarella with perfect tomatoes and fresh basil, and bruschetta -- bread rubbed with garlic and brushed with a very fragrant olive oil infused with black peppercorns. I had so much of it that it could have been my dinner. Then there were two Pasta dishes of Primo course and apparently no Secondi. Don't ask me "Whaat"? It sounded Greek to me but this is what T said was the order in Italian courses. I still remained clueless.

In plain Bong speak for the main course there was pumpkin ravioli in white sauce. The white sauce, home made with mascarpone and what not was mind blowing. R-da also made a vegetable sauce and served it with tagliatelle. The sauce is supposed to be meat based but because of our veg requirements he made it with grated carrots etc. Okay, we did not even realize it was supposed to be meat based it was so good and that from a moderately meat loving Bong.

With the second pasta they served an eggplant dish which again T kept harping on as "should be antipasto" and some such thing. It had exactly the same effect like saying to a Martian "Ilish er Jhol should be only served with rice at a sit down meal and after that you have to take a nap". For me Marinated Eggplants a la Ottolenghi -- was so delicious; the eggplants so soft and buttery; and so fragrant with herbs and a lovely Olive Oil that I could eat it straight from the bowl standing at the security clearance for AlItalia. I know I went overboard with "so" there but it was Oh so good.

By the time the meal ended we were brimming with good food and a content heart. It was then that T brought out her Tiramisu. Now to be honest I have never been a fan of Tiramisu. Or rather I have never had a Tiramisu that I fell in love with until the evening of 6th April, 2012. Mark your calendars. So I wasn't too excited and anyway I was full with the excellent pasta and therefore opted for a small piece. And then it happened. Shining lights, pushpa brishti and all that. That was the day all the loser Tiramisu's in my life were banished away by the prince, the real one, the chosen perfect Tiramisu.

Phewww what a relief.

Now since I can never ever do justice to such a thing, I asked T for the recipe--which she finally gave after umpteen e-mails-- to be shared here. Okay she wrote it while on conf calls so you have to give it to her. If you are brave enough, go try it. I will just drive over an hour and reach her place and have the real thing. Thank you or Grazie Tanto.

And we have to go back soon because Li'l A was mighty displeased to come back home and said she wants to stay at T Pishi's home for s-i-x-t-y days. "Sixty days thakbo", she shouted. "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday --s-i-x-t-y". Good luck kiddo, let me see which college gives you an admit. Till then let's eat some Tiramisu.

PS: Pardon the picture qualities, I was so involved in eating that spent minimum time taking pictures and that too in night light.

Directions:
1. Whip cream and 3 TBS sugar to almost stiff peaks. Set aside.
2. Mix mascarpone cheese with 1 TBS Kahlua, vanilla. Whisk together.
3. Fold mascarpone mixture with the sweetened whipped cream.
4. Combine coffee plus a bit of Kahlua...to taste.
5. Dip savoiardi biscuits in coffee mixture and place in pan in a flat layer.
6. Add a portion of the mascarpone cream mixture and level out. Repeat layer once more or two more times if doing a 3 layer cake. You can sprinkle some cocoa/shaved chocolate between teh layers, if you like.
7. Spread shaved chocolate on top for decoration.

That's quite a simply assembled Tiramisu. And picture quality doesn't deter one from trying great recipes :-)Good taste doesn't depend on how long hours you spend in decorating the food isn't it? great post as usual.

San, as always your write up made me laugh early in the day:)) esp when I'm having a not-so-good time right now. The bit about the shining lights, pushpa brishti, charming prince... had me in splits!!! I am so curious about pumpkin ravioli in white sauce...can we expect that recipe soon?

Saneeka - I didn't realize that !!! We are Bongs after all and a egg hidden in a biscuit is what we largely overlook :)But Nags I found this recipe for making eggless savioirdi which should satisfy all I guess http://sites.google.com/site/aprna00/egglessandalcohol-freetiramisu

LOL about S-i-x-t-y Days Sandeepa! U just have an hour drive to visit Italy - i love the eggplant that should be something i would like to taste. Tiramisu -I still haven't tasted yet- probably reserved for my Italy trip- only God knows when :)

I have never had an eggless version before. I myself make a version with eggs that honestly is pretty darn good (if I can toot my own horn!)After some trial and error (and by error I mean "soggy" lady fingers) I have come up with a little trick. Instead of dipping the lady fingers in the espresso, I actually arrange them flat in the dish and then use a dropper to apply/squirt the coffee on the lady fingers. Rest is as your friend describes.

On another note, have you tried any dessert with savioirdi biscuits dipped in rose syrup? My lil one and me recently whipped up a last minute dessert with savioirdi, rose syrup, whipped cream etc for sudden guests and it was awesome...maybe I should blog about it.

loved ur post.. had me laughing loud over ur description of the shining lights and s-i-x-t-y days, among others.i had tried tiraminu once with egg yolks.. i felt it was too much of an effort and didnt make again. it was tasty though.. loved the recipe. looks quite easy .shall try once..keep writing. looking forward to ur posts.

this tirimasu is mind boggling. i had tried it earlier twice with a little twist.. brown bread instead of biscuits. no kahlua, and the bread slices lightly greased with honey. the layers as usual, though i did not use cheese. Refrigerate overnite and the dish can be sliced into pieces. simply delicious. thanks S, for the pics and the write up. i don't blame Lil sis for wanting a s-i-x-t-y days stint with this heaven food.

I has this experience with cheesecake - eating at places, not liking it, vowing not to eat it again, then going to thanksgiving dinner a distant relative's place, getting totally stuffed, finally being offered cheesecake which I conveniently declined using 'oh-I-am-so-full' excuse, being emotionally black-mailed by 'I-made-it-myself' thing and then just falling in love and asking for seconds.

Hi,Just wanted to mention that this recipe has a misleading title as Savoiardi biscuits are made with eggs. I know you mean that the mousse topping doesn't have any raw eggs. But it's not truly vegetarian and not suitable for egg allergy sufferers.

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine